Microsoft finally announced their obvious next step - an PPC advertising system like Google Adsense or the stil-in-beta Yahoo Publishing Network.

Microsoft announced today that they will be selling contextual ads on the MSN network of sites...

and best: these will be opened to sites outside the MSN network - thereby getting into direct competition with Googe Adsense and Google's great margins on those.

Microsoft is late as always, but once they got into a market, they soaked it up typically...

Microsoft says they will start using the system on their sites in France and Singpore. The United States will by next, possibly before the year is out.

This means soon 3 BIG PPC ad networks will compete - and that means increased competition and dropping prices ! Thanks! that also means that a lot of incentives for typical Adsense scaper sites might disappear... isn't that great?

via: Microsoft Announces Entry Into the Search Ads Game - ReveNews - Joel Comm, Online Revenue News & Opinions Since 1998